Benjamin O. Davis Jr., son of the first black general officer in the U.S. Army, becomes the first black general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He retires Jan. 31, 1970, as a lieutenant general, and is advanced to general on Dec. 9, 1998, by President Bill Clinton.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.